Most of the vehicles I’ve owned have been standard transmissions, and I can attest to most of the rationales already mentioned. But there’s one more.
Just before I went shopping for my latest car, I happened to notice the extent of grey in my hair (what there is of it), and I have a sneaking suspicion that one of the motivations for seeking out a stick was a futile attempt to keep the snake at bay.
Where does one find a steep hill in Chicago? It’s the midwest, it’s flat here. I’ve driven a stick here almost my whole driving life and I’ve not seen a hill I needed to use the parking brake on.
Remembering back to when I was taking my driving lessons in the UK. I wasn’t too good at hill starts to start with and got my driving instructor to take me out to a steep road at the local Army base. I had to sit there with the hand brake on, find the biting point, release the hand brake and hold the car dead on the hill. Then he had me move up the hill two metres and stop and roll back down the hill for two metres and stop, all on the clutch. A little nerve wracking at the time since I didn’t really like doing hill starts but it really got my confidence up, a great way to practice if you can find a private hilly road.
grey_ideas
I live near the Fox River. Lots of hills coming off the bridges. The one that freaked me out was in Carpentersville/Dundee. The stop light is right at the top of a really steep one.
And I lived in the mountains for a while, too. Switchbacks can be nervewracking as well, though not nearly as bad as river hills.
Use your parking brake. Set brake, let clutch out while reving gas, release brake, drive on.
Upon preview, I see Grey_Ideas has it…although I’m sure that was an expensive lesson, based on clutch life.
Shoot, there was a time when I could drive my (stick, of course) Honda CRX on Cincinnati’s hilly, windy roads - while taking the pickles off my White Castles & putting ketchup on.
Ah, wild youth.
To sum it up a manual transmission:
-Usually gets better gas mileage
-Is more reliable (fewer moving parts)
-Lets you select the gear you drive in for maximum power or effeciency, whichever you choose. Automatic transmissions don’t know there’s a hill coming up, or a curve.
-Cheaper
I’m a one handed driver so I like the big floor shifts as a place to rest my right hand. ( *:: When the wife is not in the vechicle with me. :: * )
I believe they will. Just call some local ones (or the CAA) and ask them. Or you could go with the time-honoured tradition - buy a stick, and force yourself to learn. 
Definitely do it. I’m very glad that I learned. Not knowing how to drive a manual transmission car always seems a little … short-sighted to me.
I learned in an hour flat – but that was b/c my boyfriends had all driven stick-shifts, so I was accustomed to listening to the engine rev & then shifting. Listening is key. Some cars are easier to learn on than others, too, depending on how “tight” the clutch is.